Former French culture minister Audrey Azoulay was elected as the new director general of UNESCO on Friday, in a narrow victory over her Qatari rival Hamad bin Abdulaziz al-Kawari. Azoulay’s election to the top post at the UN science, education and culture agency was the result of a profound divide among its Arab member states, and served a severe blow to Qatar’s ambitions of influence on the world stage. René Backmann witnessed first-hand the tensions during the six rounds of voting, which at one point almost ended in a fist fight, and in this report of the events he analyses the tough tasks ahead for Azoulay amid the decision by the US and Israel to quit the organisation.

The US has said it is to withdraw its membership of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization based in Paris, effective in December 2018, in protest at what it called 'anti-Israeli bias', the announcement coming just days before the body elects a new secretary general, with Qatar's Hamad bin Abdulaziz al-Kawari tipped as favourite to win the vote.

Rama Yade (pictured, left) is a young, gifted and black French politician who rose from a relative nowhere to become one of France's most popular public figures. A protégé of Nicolas Sarkozy, she served three years in government before her outspokenness and disobedience of the president saw her fired in last November's government reshuffle. But this loose cannon has been quickly disarmed; she's just accepted the post of permanent French ambassador to UNESCO. In this interview with Mediapart, we ask her whether she's become another example of an ex-minister joining the gravy train.